France on Wednesday arrested a member of Africa's top footballing body on war crimes charges in the Central African Republic, the International Criminal Court said. Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, a former minister, is accused of being a top coordinator of armed groups in the conflict-hit country, the Hague-based court said in a statement.
Ngaissona "has been arrested by the authorities of the French Republic pursuant to an arrest warrant" issued by the court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, it added.
Ngaissona was controversially elected to the executive board of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) general assembly in February. His spokesman told AFP he was also Central African Republic's football chief. The ICC issued a warrant for Ngaissona for coordinating so-called anti-Balaka militias which emerged after civil war broke out in 2013 with the declared aim of defending Christian communities from mostly Muslim rebels. France, the former colonial power, sent 2,000 troops to quell the rebels, winding down the operation in 2016 after President Faustin-Archange Touadera was elected.
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